Time-operated circuit-controlling means.



A. J. ALLARD.

TIME OPERATE-D CIRCUIT CONTROLLING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. I6. I9II- Patented Jan. 8, 1918.

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1% INVENTOR 7 V; I Azforneys NESSES A. J. ALLARD.

TIME OPERATED CIRCUIT CONTROLLING MEANS- APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16,1911.

Patented Jan. 8; 1918.

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A [lame mnnw JOSEPH ALLABID, or nrcnmonn; vmemm.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW J ALI.Ann, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Richmond, in thecountyof *Henrico and State of-Virginia, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Time-Operated Circuit-Controlling Meansyand I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as Will-enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in time operated circuitcontrolling meansfor lighting and extinguishing electric vlights,

and more particularly for controlling the lighting and extinguishing ofthe lights on automobiles at predetermined timQes,-one object of theinvention being to provide simple and efiicient means .iassociated withthe mechanism of, an automobile clock for closing the circuits at apredetermined time,

of the electric lighting system, embodying] the head andtail lights ofan automobile and to retaining said, circuits closed for a definitelength of time. 1 V

A further object is to provide, in an automatic clock, means for closinglighting circuits at a predetermined time, and s1m 1e resent twenty fourhours and efiicient'means: for setting themec anism to operate ataredetermmed time.

With these and ot er ob'ectsin view,"th e.

invention consistsin certam novel features of construction andcombinations of parts 'as hereinafter set forthandi pointed out in theclaims. I

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 isa face view of an automobileclock, with the face removed, showing an embodiment, of my invention;Fig. 2 is a sectionaliview; Fig 8- is a face viewofthe clock: face;=Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse secti0n'; Fig. an a diagrammaticalview. s y

1 represents a clock casing and 2.the frame inwhich the major 01ti0! 10f the mecha-. nism is mounted. T e time-mechanism of the clock may beconventional in construction and transmits motion to a-compara tivelylarge spur wheel 3 mountedlooselyi to rotate on a spindle 4 and to movelongitudinally of said spindle. This spindle carries a hand 5 toregister with a dial 6 on the clock face and said dial is aduated torepivided into two series of twelve hours eachrepresenting the a, m. andpa in. divisions of a day. The

Specification of Letters Patent Application filed January 16, 1917.Serial No, 142,696.

'rmn-ornnarnn CIRCUIT-CONTROLLING Means Patented Jan. s, 1918,

spindle 4- is provided with a fixed hub 7 havlng a laterally projectinglug 8 and the spur wheel is provided on its outer face with a cam 9 toengage said lug. A spring arm 19 is secured at one end to the frame somedistance from the spur wheel, at one side thereof and extends under saidwheel and to an appreciable distance beyond the same at thefoppositeside thereof,said spring havmg a hole intermediate of its ends for thepassage of the spindle 4 and the tendency of said spring is to press thespur wheel outwardly against the hub 7 and its lug 8. The free end ofthe spring arm 10 is bifurcated to engage a grooved collar 11 at one endof a longitudinally movable rod 12 mounted in the framework 2. At itsother end, said rod has secured thereto a plurality of electricallyconnected switch arms 1314--15 to engage! (under certain conditions) aplurality of-f'contact blocks 16-17'-18 secured to butxe'lectricallyinsulated from one of the platesof the-framework 2.

A su table source of electric energy is illustrated diagrammatically at19 and may consist of a suitable batterylocated at any convenientposition in the car. One pole of this battery is grounded, as shown at20,

A while the other pole of said battery is conheated by means of'aconductor 21 with the contact block 18' of the circuit closer abovedescribed. The head lights 22, 22 of the car are connected in a circuit23 between the contact block 16 and a grounded connection 24;, whilethe.tail light 25 of the car'is connectedflin a-circuit 26' between thecontact block 17*of the circuit connection 27; l 1 It will be seen thatwhen the'rod 12 rises to cause the switch arms to engage the concloserand a grounded tact blocks of the circuit. closer, two ground edcircuits included in'parallel with the sourceof electrical supply andincluding the head and ,tail lamps, respectively, will be closed, thus'causing said lamps to be lighted.

. When the rod 12 is freeto rise, it will be forced upwardly by theaction of a springv ,28 encircling said rod and bearing at one endagainst thecollar 11 on said rod and at the'other end against one of theplatesof ,the framework 2. v 4

Themovements of the rod 12 to close the circuitsiof the head and taillights of the car and to open saidcircuits at predetermined times, arecontrolled by the clock mecha lighting circuits.

'nism, through the medium of the spur wheel 3 and its cam 9 cooperatingwith the lug 8 carried by the spindle 4, and the movements of said rod12 to effect the closing or the opening of the lighting circuits atpredetermined times are controlled by theposition at which the lug 8 maybe set relatively to spur wheel to move longitudinally on the. spindleand the spring arm 10 to release the circuit closer and effect theclosing of the of the spur wheel, between the ends of the cam 9 is suchthat the lighting circuits will be maintained closed for approximatelytwelve hours,at the expiration of which time, the cam 9 will ride. underthe lug 8 and cause such movement of the rod 12 as will open the circuitcloser and thus extinguish the lights.

Means are provided however, whereby the li hting circuit may be openedat the will 0? the operator so that the lights may be extinguished whenthe car is run into the garage at a time during the night earlier, thanthe time at which the mechanism,.may"

- be set-to open the circuit closer automatically. Such means mayconsist of a manually operable switch 29which may be convenientlylocated in the circuit 21 as shown in Fig. 5. In applying this switch 1to the clock, the switch arm 29 may be pivotally mounted between itsends on the interior wall of the casing l and contact blocks 30-30 maybe also secured to but insulated certain conditions as hereinafterdescribed) from saidcasing in position to beelectrically connected bythe switch arm 29,--said contact blocks being included in the circuit21. A hand lever 32 is pivotall mounted on the flange 3310i the'casingan connected with the pivoted switch arm 29 for hperating the latter. 0providesimple and spindle 4 relativelyto thecam 9cm thespur beemployedpv A pinion 34 is secured a to thespindle 4 and is adapted toreceive motion (under from a pinion 35 carried by a" spindle 36,-

the latter being mounted in the'framework w in a manner to permit ittobe moved lon 'itudinally andto the upper end of this spindle, a pinion37 is secured and receives mo-' tion (under certain conditions) from anannular rack 38 carried by a ring 39 mounted on the casing 11. andhaving a knurled pe- The distance on the face efiicient means forsetting the hand 5;, on the dial 6 and con sequently setting. the lugScarried by the f v nected with the spindle 3. With such conwheel 3, thedevices new to be'described may neeae'za riphery to permit it to bereadily turned by the operator. A spring 40 surrounding vided on thespindle 36 and a manually operable lever 42 is mounted on the casing andformed with a toe 43 to engage the cam disk or flan e 41 and cause thespindle 36 to be move longitudinally so as tomove the pinion 35 intomesh with the pinion 34 and the pinion 37; into mesh with the rack 38.If the ring 39 be now turned, motion will be imparted to the spindle 3and the lug 8 on said spindle may be set relatively to the cam 9 on thespur wheel 4, so that the circuit closer will be operated at anypredetermined time, as indicated on the dial 6 when'the spindle 3 isturned as above described. The lever 42 will be maintained in its normalposition with its toe 43 out of engagement with the cam flange or disk41, by the action of a spring 44.

The ring 39 and its annular rack may also be utilized to operate thewinding mecha nism and for setting the hands of the clock, but as thesewinding and setting devices form no essential part'ot my presentinvention, specific description of the same herein is not necessary.

In the modified circuit closing means 4 are'utilized' as the circuitclosing means.

With this construction, the spindle 3 is insu- I lated from the casingand from the spur wheel and thecam 9 is insulated 'from the wheel 4or'said cam may be made of insulating material; The spring arm 10 makeselectrical contact with the spur wheel 4 and one circuit terminal isconnected with said spring arm, while the other terminal isconstructien, it is apparent that when the lug 8 1 is in contact withthe metal of the spur wheel,- the circuit will be closed and that whensaid lugis in engagement with the insulated. cam on said wheel, the.circuit will beopen. 1

-Various, slight changes mi ht be made in the details ofconstruction omy invention, without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting itsscope and hence I do not wish to restrlct myself to the precise detailsherein set forth, v

Having fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is 1. A'device of the character described, comprising the casing and frame of atime mechanism, a rod mounted to move longi- .tudinally'in, said frameand adapted to be moved in one direction by the 0 eration of the timemechanism, a spring iihr moving said rod in the other direction, contactarms carried by said rod, contact blocks secured to the frame inposition to cooperate with said contact arms, an electric circuitincluding lamps connected with said contact blocks, electricallyseparated switch blocks carried by said casing and connected in saidcircult, anda manually operable switch lever mounted on said'casing andcooperable with said switch blocks for opening or closing said circuit.

2. A device of the character described comprising the casing of a timemechanism, a casing therefor, a spur wheel to be operated by the timemechanism and carrying a cam, a spindle on which said wheel is movablelongitudinally, a lug on said spindle to cooperate with said cam, andcircuit closing means controlled by the movements of said wheellongitudinally on the spindle, a

manually operable ring mounted on the casmg and provided with an annularrack, a

of mesh with said first mentioned pinion and annular rack respectively,a 'cam flange on said longitudinally movable spindle, and a levermounted on the casing and having a toe thereon to engage said cam flangeto move the pinions on said spindle simultaneously into mesh with thefirstmentioned pinion and the rack respectively whereby thefirst-mentioned spindle may be turned to set the lug thereon relativelyto the cam on the spur wheel, when the manually operated ring is turned,and a spring for moving said longitudinally movable spindle to disengagethe pinions thereon from the first mentioned pinion and the rack.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing Witnesses.

ANDREW JOSEPH ALLARD. Witnesses:

WM. P. REDD, PERCY SMITH.

